Rajasthan Ornaments

Both Men and Women wear ornaments but with the passage of time, men are giving up their use.The ornaments of gold and silver are more prevalent in Rajasthan. There are certain ornaments which are used by men. In daily use the ladies wear normal ornaments of neck, hand, nose and ear but on special occasions and social functions. Women wear all the ornaments of different parts of the body to look beautiful and attractive. For its exquisite designs and delicacy of art Rajasthan Jewelry is a rage not only for ladies of India but also for women of foreign countries.

Ornaments for the head
The ladies of the royal family of Rajasthan wore atleast half a dozen kinds of hair jewellery at one time, each with its own name and specific function. The most common head jewel is the bindi, which has a central pendant hanging from a string of fine pearls and is worn down the parting of the hair with the pendant resting in the middle of the forehead A variant of this is called the borla in which the central pendant is semi-spherical and set with precious stones and a fringe of fine pearls. Chains of gold, shaped like the lotus and other flowers are worn across the length of the plait. There are flower-shaped hair pins and hair combs beautifully enamelled and set with stones.

Ornaments for the nose
The nath is a nose ornament which, when worn, is considered to bring good fortune. It is often a ring of fine gold with a pearl threaded between two rubies in its central part. There are many other kinds of nose rings as well.
Ornamentation for the ears

The kinds of earrings worn are too many to enumerate, but the main styles are the karanphool jhumka, literally the flower of the ear, shaped like a star. The phool jhumka is like a bell shaped flower, toti is the image of a parrot, lathan is the image of a grape, papal patti is shaped like a pipal leaf. A special type of earring is one which runs along the entire shape of the outer ear with an ear top and jhoomka attached to the lower half. Sometimes, strings of fine pearls run from the earring into the hair, and pearls are also threaded through the hair.

Ornaments for the foot
The foot ornaments are of two types- the toe rings and the anklets. The toe rings for the big toe are and are called amvat. The rings for the other toes are modelled in the shapes of fish, flowers, or just circles of gsaranules on the surface. There are also double toe rings which cover the entire toe. There is a great exuberance in the designs of the anklets.

Ornaments for the waist
The women also wear girdles and belts around their waists. These are usually made of gold and set with rubies emeralds and diamonds. Belts are usually broad bands of flattened, twisted metal in silver or gold, encrusted with gems, and embossed with exquisite designs. They are usually finished off with clusters of beads at the rims. The Kardhani is made of various chains, each a little longer than the previous one and all held together with metalbands.

Ornaments for the arm
The wearing of ornainentv, on the wrists and forearm follows a special pattern. The smallest bangle to fit the wrist is the kada, which is a thick rounded bangle with various decorations on it. The two ends are usually carved with replicas of the heads of animals and birds like elephants, lions or parrots. Then come bangles, any number of them in various shapes and designs. Here may be the chuda which is sometimes made of ivory inlaid With gold. The last item is the pail, which is a plain bangle that highlights the ostentation of therest of the ornaments that go before it.

Ornaments for the neck
Jewellery for the neck is one of the most important items of jewellery and there is a bewildering range strings, sometimes with rubies and emeralds strung with them or with gem studded pendants, are worn double and triple strings. There is the chandan haar (a necklace gold sequins), the mohanmala ( anecklace of beads resembling melon seeds), champakali (a string of flowers stylised in the shape of the champa), the mohurn, the jugnu, the hansli(a gold collar or ring, thick in the middle and tapering towards the ends)